A letter from Dave on the infamous $40 for 4GB price change

[Dave_M]

Hey Community,

I am writing to you today to let you know that we will not be moving forward with a price increase on the infamous “$40 for 4GB” plan ($120 90-day Province-Wide Talk + Text + 12GB Data), contrary to the SMS that customers on that plan received yesterday.

After sending out an offer to select customers, we heard your feedback loud and clear: we said no surprises, and we surprised you. While all good things must come to an end at some point – that point is not today. As a brand, we have always been proud of our transparency, and of our commitment to our customers. We are sincerely sorry for any frustration caused and we want you to know that this has been a learning experience for us all.

We have been reminded that you, our customers, are vocal and passionate. We’ve seen how much some of you love Public Mobile and we’ve also seen how many of you like the added value that our sister brand, Koodo, has to offer. To that end, we are happy to say that the Koodo offer that our Public customers on the “$40 for 4GB” plan received still remains available for anyone who wishes to take advantage of it.

Thank you for your continued support,

Dave

[Bur]

Can someone clarify for me why everyone is so concerned about this? The koodo deal is the same price but with Canada wide calling instead of province wide, so it seems like a good deal. I'm thinking of making the switch, but I feel like I must be missing something....

[jeeva86]

I’m glad it got reversed. The other competitors could’ve taken advantage of this opportunity to offer a plan similar to koodo and ppl may jump there. Or maybe they are planning one up now. 

[computergeek541]

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@skewparwrote:

This is great news, I've been getting text's from referrals about the price increase asking me why did you switch me to Public Mobile. What was I supposed to say, ... glad this is resolved for now.

You really had your referals ask you that?  You didn't switch anyone.  You may have told them about thr promotion plans but they are the ones who decided to sign up.  People need to take responsibility for their own choices, just as Public Mobile needs to take responsibility for the whole mess.

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[skewpar]

This is great news, I've been getting text's from referrals about the price increase asking me why did you switch me to Public Mobile. What was I supposed to say, ... glad this is resolved for now.

[Optiblue]

This 25% price hike was by far the worst move I've ever come across. Also it seems as though they want to eventually end it as well just not today! Shame on telus for trying to pull this on us. Damage has been done, PM plans other than the $40 for 4gb are all terrible and pushing out 3G options is shameful. The moment Rogers has $50-60 10GB plans I'm jumping ship.

[trash_pr]

I dont know what this guy thinks he's trying to accomplish by setting up some kind of expectations that a price increase will eventually come. Just reading his passage leaves an especially sour taste in my mouth.

the infamous “$40 for 4GB” plan

Nothing infamous about it. No one I talked to has ever spoken ill of the plan.

While all good things must come to an end at some point – that point is not today.

You try to pull this **bleep** again, be prepared to be met with the same response, if not more drastic.

We must not normalize the mindset that this guy is trying to set us up for: that "next time this happens, they warned us way in advance, so I guess we yield"

No.

We fight. Again. And Again.

[Someone_here]

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@bilal684wrote:

Do a promo now so us that don't have a good plan can switch to a better one.

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They don't want you to switch to a better plan, they want to make money out of you 😉

[Korth]

@PJC

The wording isn't optimistic but it is realistic.

I personally prefer honest, truthful bad news over lying, dishonest promises.

[PJC]

Though I'm glad that the decision has been made, I cannot help but to wonder what the people were thinking when they came up with the idea of increasing the price so drastically.

The wording from Dave's post does not paint a optimistic picture of what is to come. Good luck to those on the $40 fall plan!

[makkahn28]

Telus should be Giving ALL of US, 25% back in Bonuses

[PhoneSeeker]

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@lukevaderwrote:

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@Alexowrote:Found the shill!

Said the troll.

By the way to be a shill I would have to be a customer........ which I am NOT anymore. I left with the $60/10 plan which you were too cheap to follow

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Why are you even here then? Get out, trespasser. 

[Ian_S]

Thank you for not going through with this absurd 25% price increase. 

Glad everyone stuck together and voiced their opinions to Public Mobile . Shows our numbers counted for something. 

Cheers,

[Watoko]

Thank you for listening to us. I was thrilled with the text. Thank you all for taking part in voicing your concern, it truly takes a collaborative effort and I am glad that we were able to make a change. Thanks Public Mobile for ultimately sticking to your word. I hope you have learned from this about the importance of a proper communication strategy and a customer management strategy. While I know this sweet price plan will not stay in the future, I hope you guys will take what have happened and implement it in a more fair and transparent method.

[bilal684]

Do a promo now so us that don't have a good plan can switch to a better one.

[computergeek541]

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@Korthwrote:

(Just wanna apologize if anything I type in this thread has already been said before, haha, the activity is too crazed, Notifications about replies to this thread keep on blinking away before I can even finish typing any posts.)

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There's just no way that every single message about this fiasco can be read.  And even if you do read every message, who would be able to remember each post?  So, I wouldln't worry about it if you say something that's already been said by someone else or even if you accidently repeat yourself.

[makkahn28]

The Time for screaming has long passed

Time for Action

Telus should be Deactivated, and Banished

Replaced by a New Entity, Talk Canada

[computergeek541]

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@jairoleviwrote:

I will keep the plan, but will keep an eye for deals from NON TELUS Companies.

I believe that customers should also be keeping an eye on deals from all competitors.  There's no reason to miss out on a deal just because you didn't know about it.

[Hassan38]

Hi Dave

Thank you for your letter does this mean that we will continue with our plan that we have now.

I love Public Mobile and I was shocked when I receioved this message that you will be closing and I will have to move to KOODO.

Please confirm thank you for your help

[computergeek541]

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@saje_wardwrote:

I'm curious to know why they are so keen to move us over to koodo? The Koodo plan is a slightly better plan given that it has Canada wide calling. Hubby and I never go over 4g/m anyhow so it's really all the same to me...if I had not just renewed our two PM plans 3 days ago!!

Telus wants us on postpaid plans.  There is more opportunity to make more on customers in the long run on overages, and it is also much easier for the customer to end up paying more than the base plan price.  There's also the fact that Public/Koodo is forcing customers to go to the store to get this offer, giving the sales team an opportunity to upsell you or take a phone on a contract, making it less likely for you to cancel before the 2 years are up.

[timothyfriesen]

Thank you for making this decision. Regardless, I hope it wasn't only all the pending CCTS complaints that caused Telus to change their mind about this.

Also, did anyone else notice that the lates text wen out with a link to Koodo that then redirected here? It seems to me that sooner rather than later Public Mobile will cease to exist. At that point none of us will be active Public Mobile subscribers and we will all be forced to either accept a plan from Koodo (most likely not as nice as what we have currently) or switch to another carrier.

At least for now Telus has kept two customers. If they had gone ahead with this they could have lost both my and my wife's accounts.

[Someone_here]

Wow, lots of things happening here in less than 2-3 days... I definitely missed the storm!

Glad the see the decision was reversed; however not feeling optimistic about the future, as I said last time with the major price hikes... 

Anyways, enjoy it while it last, and most of all keep fighting! 

[Samianauman]

After a long discussion and after great efforts by all pm customer finally pm official change their plan about switching to koodo offer glad to hear and as I wrote few times yesterday about don't rush to koodo or don't panic. I am happy that I don't even bother to even call or check online for koodo deal on koodo website. Lol cuz I wasn't willing to move to koodo anyways. 

But happy to hear from dave. 

But peoples who already switched to koodo cuz of this text msg.  Pm should recnsider those user and offer them same plan the plan they lost cuz of this issue. 

[Korth]

@computergeek541

Yes, community discussion does cost PM money ... every dollar they Reward is one dollar less they bill us, and it does all add up.

But I think the theory is that active community sort of "pays for itself" in terms of money not being spent on a support staff, clocking labour hours, manning phone lines, etc.  The "no frills" "phone company without a phone number" leans on loyal community members - we're able answer questions, provide "tech support", offer advice, etc - so PM "rewards" us for saving them money.

[agafaba]

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@lukevaderwrote:

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@koimr1wrote:

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@lukevaderwrote:

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@DavidNSwrote:

what you are quoting contradicts what they said when they offered the plan.  So what is someone supposed to believe?

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That's the problem. A company can say or promise what ever it wants but as long as its not in the terms of service its just that...... an empty promise.

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Actually, that could be open to interpretation:

Paragraph 74.01(1)(c) of the Competition Act is a civil provision. It prohibits the making, or the permitting of the making, to the public, of any materially misleading product warranty or guarantee, or promise to replace, maintain or repair an article. This includes circumstances in which there is no reasonable prospect that the warranty, guarantee or promise will be carried out. Under this provision, it is not necessary to demonstrate that any person was deceived or misled; that any member of the public to whom the representation was made was within Canada; or that the representation was made in a place to which the public had access. Subsection 74.03(5) directs that the general impression conveyed by a representation, as well as its literal meaning, be taken into account when determining whether or not the representation is false or misleading in a material respect.

Source: Misleading warranties and guarantees (Competition Bureau - Canada)

(italicized bold parts are my emphasis)

Arguable for sure but that "general impression" part is quite important. Sellers should not be saying contradictory things in their "fine print" vs their advertising.

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Like I said earlier, it would be up to a court to decide this ruling, It comes down to intepretation of their advertising. Did they honor the promo plan for users on it after it expired? YES. Did they continue to offer it after their inital 90 day plan expired? YES. Even for an entire year. So the question is...... is that a bait and switch after providing said service a year after it expired? I say no, cause services were rendered for a reasonable period of time.

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This change also applies to people who switched over from freedom 8 months ago so while they may have honored it for 90 days they havent reached the 1 year point for me yet.

[Samianauman]

We all appreciate that @Dave_M

[computergeek541]

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@tparchiewrote:

If that day comes, good bye all Telus brands.

Bell lost my business 10 years ago.

Will Telus be next?

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There's a problem with that.  How many carriers are left?

[rita_fuchs]

Little note : Just don't forget to remove this message in our accounts so it won't confuse customers. (Mine is in french, but it's basically the increase message.)

I know a delay might be needed for it, but just in case... 🙂  Thanks.

[vn33]

After this public relation fiasco, what ever good feelings I had for PM has vanished. I feel so betrayed and lied to. I recommended PM to many of my friends, and here I am, being played a fool. Why? I was attracted to PM in their unequivocal declaration of no surprises, customer first business practice.

I'm sorry PM, but now I have my eyes open to other options and would not hesitate to jump if there's another better option.

Am I over reacting?  Would like to hear from you ! 

[computergeek541]

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@remikwrote:

If anything good came out of this it's that a **bleep** load of people will be getting "community discounts" on their next renewal for bad mouthing PM 😛

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Not really.  Public Mobile is going to still pay out approximiately the same rewards each month, regardless.

The complaining is just going to make it so that those who had the most to say about these price changes are the ones who are rewarded the most.  With all these complaints and discussions, it's just that much harder to maintain the community rewards that most users have come to expect on a regular basis.

[rita_fuchs]

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@kav2001ca écrit :

To everyone:

Think of it this way

CCTS usually gets about 9000 complaints per year

They got 2500 complaints just now

I am willing to bet dollars to doughnuts most were Public clients and I am further willing to bet the CCTS called up Telus head office and asked what the f is going on

So now changes are delayed but they are still coming

Watch for our rewards to change / dissapear first

As that would cause alot of people to take next Koodo migration offer

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I want to believe that they really had a lesson here and will not pursue in that avenue. For now it's a win... we sticked together and made a change. Fingers crossed.